It is well-known in the art to use powered rotary instruments with special applicators for applying dental compounds to human teeth during various dental procedures. It is also well-known that the applicator mandrels which apply the compound to the tooth have different designs in order to facilitate their utility. One general design shown to be very effective is a rotary mandrel with a cup-like applicator tip extremely flexible sides and which has a central pocket to hold a quantity of compound against the tooth while it is being applied. Many of the commonly used tooth compounds are for superficial tooth cleaning only. Hence, in order to avoid abrasion of the tooth enamel, the rotary applicators often utilize extremely flexible applicator cups in order to minimize the pressure of the compound against the tooth. Using this low pressure with the high RPM capability of the standard dental handpiece yields very effective cleaning using a mild cleaning paste.
New compounds are presently being devised, however, for which the old application techniques and devices are no longer recommended. Such a compound is described in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 811,447 pending describing an extremely abrasive compound incorporating an enamel-dissolving acid. Normal methods of powered compound application have proven unsatisfactory using this new compound. The high RPM nature of the dental handpiece, together with the very flexible sidewall of the normal compound applicator cup, does not permit the required control of the enamel-shaping compound.